#benefactor vox au

[purgatorysanctuary]

Alastor is one jealous son of a bitch, you can’t tell me otherwise

[eros-agape-art]

Finished the full sketch, debating on "rendering" the drawing. Although Ibis Paint is LYING TO ME about how long the piece has taken, it says 11 hours, but I know that's a lie because I spam the undo button like a madman 😅

I'll probably talk about the outfits later but I'm kinda burnt out on this piece so it might be a while. Also, I know Angel Dust's outfit is shit, I'm probably gonna change it later.

[frilled-cheese-sandwich]

Thinking about @purgatorysanctuary's Benefactor Vox AU...

Dude I am in love with this AU and the art style OP draws in,,, This was the AU that got me hooked on StaticApple- I'm still finding my style, gotta learn from the best 🏃‍♂

I completely agree that Vox as the hotel sponsor just makes sense, he has ulterior motives just like Alastor but Vox would be way better at helping the hotel. He's a charmer, he knows that he needs Lucifer as an ally, and hey, when is it ever a bad idea to cozy up with the royals?

I'm not big-brained enough to come up with the cool AU ideas 😭 maybe someday...

[mary-laib]

Hear me out: au where everything in Hazbin Hotel is the same except Alastor is a child. I just think it would be super funny.

Charlie: *opens front door*

Alastor, a child: Hell-

Charlie: *slams the door in his face, then opens it again*

Alastor: O-

Charlie, slamming the door closed again: Uh, Vaggie? There’s a child at the door.

Literally nobody knows who he is because the Radio Demon is this notorious serial killer from the radio that nobody’s actually seen and every time Alastor has tried to be like “oh, yeah! That’s me!” Nobody believes him because he looks like a six year old. Also he usually takes on his demon form during his broadcasts, so his voice sounds more like an adult’s when he does them.

Also Sir Pentious and Vox are the only rivals that take him seriously, which is the only reason he bothers to keep them around. This does have the averse effect of everyone who knows the two being a little weirded out by their dynamics. Also Velvette is mildly concerned that Vox might be a pedo.

Valentino: Why the hell are you beefing with a little kid?

Vox, who is about to try to wreck Alastor’s shit for the third time this week: HES OLDER THAN ME! I DONT CARE IF HE LOOKS LIKE A BABY, HES OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BY NOW NOT TO TALK SHIT!

Also everyone thinks he’s hell-born because how the hell does a child do something bad enough to end up in hell? But he’s over here like “oh, I’ve done some unspeakable things that a grown adult from hell would balk at.

Lucifer: I’m not going to say anything because you are just a kid.

Alastor: Actually, I’m over a century old, so say whatever it is you need to say.

Lucifer: What? I thought you were hell-born? What the here did you do to end up in hell so young?

Alastor: I killed a man! :)

Lucifer: 😟

Instead of Alastor and Lucifer beefing over who is the better dad, Alastor is just taking all of Charlie’s attention away by pretending to be a needy kid and Charlie, being the bleeding heart she is has absolutely no qualms about doting over this little kid who is also super powerful and the benefactor of her hotel. Meanwhile Vaggie’s off to the side continuously face-palming into oblivion because she knows this kid is over a century old and can definitely take care of himself, but is just doing all this for attention.

Husk also still hates him because the kid owns his soul, but he’s also mildly concerned because he can’t quite get past the kid-looking exterior so he sees Alastor doing crazy shit and he gets a little worried for a second before remembering that, “oh yeah, he’s old as hell and can handle himself.” He is also more than willing to let the child have alcohol. He’s had one too many fights over the issue and despite his size, he knows Alastor is more than old enough for it.

[impale-me-radio-daddy]

Masterlist

Hi, I'm impale-me-radio-daddy, otherwise known as Big Antler Steve, The Antlers Guy, a pun or play on words, alright mate, and, in exceptional circumstances, oh no. Contrary to popular belief, I am not the acclaimed self-insert author cocksleeve4deerman69- we are in fact entirely different entities.

But enough about me, here's a list of things I've written, for your amusement and elucidation.

The Lookalike (completed series)

☒ Summary: The first thing you remembered after your death was an argument. “No, this isn’t one of my fucking sluts.” The man behind you exhaled, frustrated. “This is a present for you. Something to help you work through your Alastor fixation.” You awaken in Hell as the near-spitting image of a certain infamous radio host. Unfortunately for you, you immediately fall into the clutches of his nemesis, then into the arms of the Radio Demon himself.

☒ Warnings: hermaphrodite!reader, deer!reader, crying!reader, they/them pronouns used, explicit sexual content, reader is in Hell for a reason, reader x Alastor, reader x Vox, Valentino, canon typical scenarios, Vox-based voyeurism, minor use of aphrodisiacs, tentacle sex, Vox in a cuck chair, erotic cannibalism, Alastor x reader x Vox threesome in the finale.

☒ Length: 43k words total

☒ Series links: Part I Part2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 6 BONUS SCENE Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Epilogue

☒ Bonus vignettes: Hoof trimming, Lucifer seducing (slight AU)

Reddest Flags, Longest Nights (one-shot)

⩙ Summary: The year is 1989. The Berlin Wall has fallen, and Nintendo have just overseen the release of the Game Boy. The first ever episode of Baywatch has just aired, and Ted Bundy has just been executed by electric chair. Vox's relationship with the Radio Demon is on the rocks. Their solution? To add a third person to their bedroom: you

⩙ Warnings: Explicit sexual content, Vox X reader X Alastor, Radiostatic is a committed relationship (well, they're trying), Reader is a girl and she has a pussy, tentacle sex

⩙ Length: 5.5k words

⩙ Other notes: This is set in a sexy alternate universe for the characters in @bapple117's Bluest Monday

Return to Radio Hall (one-shot)

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an alternate universe, once conceptualised, must be in want of a fic.

⚜Summary: Having made his fortune in the New World, Vox Vee returns to visit his former benefactor, Lord Alastor.

⚜Pairings: Vox/Alastor

⚜Length: 2.1k words

⚜Content Notes: Unrequited love, Regency era AU, depiction of illness

The Alibi (I have a couple ideas for continuation, but stand-alone for now)

⚜ Pairing: human!Alastor X reader

⚜ Content notes: Reader is a sex worker, Alastor is a serial killer, brief reference to domestic abuse and injury, explicit sexual content, reader is a woman, reader has a pussy, bathtime, cum pooling in the collarbones, the sex is transactional but not like that.

⚜ Wordcount: 4.5k words

In Your Dreams, Old Pal (4-part story with an epilogue in the comments)

⛃ Pairing: Alastor/Vox

⛃ Summary: Alastor had never wanted to murder anyone as badly as he wanted to murder the version of Alastor that Vox dreamed of. The creature was, put simply, a simpering, effete idiot.

They were in a high class restaurant in some part of the states Alastor didn’t recognize, all art deco paneling and chandeliers that glowed a soft gold, the kind of lighting that made every patron look like they were being filmed through a Vaseline smeared lens; good skin, bright eyes. Even Alastor was pressed to admit it was a classy joint. Why Vox was dreaming of taking Alastor here was anyone's guess.

Alastor intrudes on the dreams of his friend and assistant, Vox.

⛃ Content notes: Explicit sexual content, dream sex, wet dreams, jizz in their pants, extremely dubious consent, virginity??, church sex, creampie, bottom Alastor, bottom Vox, incidental cannibalism, not much antler stuff.

⛃ Word count: 18k

Nothing Above the Knee (one-shot)

⪫ Pairing: Alastor/Vox (Radiostatic)

⪫ Wordcount: 4k

⪫ Summary: Alastor wants something from Vox. All Vox asks in return is a few hours with Alastor's hooves.

⪫ Content notes: Explicit sexual content, hoof stuff, contractual obligation, interdigital scent gland play, hoof licking, hoof fucking, electrostimulation, Vox is very much on top here, did I mention this is about hooves?

Heaven Spent (Part 1/2)

℣ Pairing: Vox X angelic!reader

℣ Summary: A naïve angel descends to Hell looking for her best friend Vagina. Finds Vox instead.

℣ Content notes: Voyeurism, first time for everything, explicit sexual content, thigh riding, guided masturbation, Vox being Vox, pet names: mostly sweetheart, babydoll and baby, reader is a girl, reader has a pussy and tits, reader has a name and it's a fucking stupid one.

℣ Word count: 6.5k

[hazbinhazbinhazbinreblog]

I love the idea that in an au where Vox ends up being the prime benefactor for the hotel before Alastor he starts off blatantly trying to scam Charlie and just, finds himself begrudgingly getting attached overtime and forgets the actual scam part, especially if Alastor still ends up coming in later offering to help out with the hotel and Vox of all people is the most suspicious and untrusting of him.

"Don't fucking play coy with me you 1930s hack, you might have Princess Bleedingheart fooled, but I know you're just gonna screw us over in the end."

"Why my old comrad in media, I'm hurt. How could you possibly assume such from me??"

"Uh duh, because I already tried it!"

God I love this so much, that's such a funny concept of Vox's scam failing so he goes "fuck it, might as well help instead"

[androgynousblackbox]

More stuff for this AU:

-Vox is the benefactor for the hotel and was there literally from the start. Velvette send him an email just the same as the richest motherfuckers that she could find in hell with a copypasted message, not really expecting much from the king of hell himself, but was then surprised when Vox appeared at the door of her run down apartment claiming to be "intrigued" by her proposal. After Velvette sold her pitch to him, Vox gives the biggest laugh ever and gives Velvette all the money she needs to make the hotel, promising that if this idea of her works and they can actually turn sinners into winners she will receive a lot more money. Maybe they could have a whole franchise of redemption if all turns out okay! -Vox and Mammon are greed besties. -Velvette dates Verosika. Verosika is very supportive of Velvette´s project. -Valentino is still very much a pimp and trafficker of guns that works closely with Carmilla Carmine. He came to know about the project of Velvette after she gave a passionate presentation on the news, after destroying verbally everyone who mocked her. Valentino thought to himself that he just had to be friends with such a huge bitch. -Angel Dust and Husker are angels dedicated to the extermination. The extermination is kept a secret from the rest of heaven still, including his own twin sister Molly, who he lives with. -Adam is the oldest sinner on all of hell and the first official resident of the Hazbin Hotel. He fucking hates Vox for condeming him there, but Vox literally has no recollection of who the fuck is him. That must have been data that got lost on one of his many updates. Adam is so fucking tired of hell that will do anything to get the fuck out of there. -Lute is the second resident and a fallen angel who fell when she tried to make Husker fell. Angel Dust found her out before she could do much and casted her away instead. Originally she just wanted a place to crash, but ends up staying because it's not that bad of a place after all. -Velvette has a crush/hate on Charlie because "she is not even that pretty, I mean fuck, if Lucifer wanted a good looking bitch I could have been that" and Verosika is 100% the kind of girlfriend to be there, nod and say "yeah, babe, you are so right, you are so much prettier. Honestly Lucifer missed a chance when he didn't pick you up as his fake daughter." Velvette is also the number one fan of Charlie because clout (and also she is pretty, fuck it). -Alastor literally came back to the tower after reporting on some event on a mobile station and Lucifer had already adopted Charlie, on whom he dotted and pampered on as if she was his actual daughter. He didn't get it, but Lucifer seemed happy in a way he haven't seen him in a long time so of course he let it slide (after investigating on Charlie's background to make sure that she wasn't scamming Lucifer). After realizing that Charlie had no bad intentions whatsoever and didn't represent any danger for Lucifer, only then he started to warm up to her and treat her as his own surrogate daughter too. Obviously, since Lucifer was his then obviously they were going to have the same family too.

-Alastor at the start didn't want anything to do with Lucifer, prefering to do the overlord shit on his own, but Lucifer kept following him around and helping him out so much that he realized that it was for the best for the two of them remain together. Lucifer fell first, but Alastor fell harder kind of deal. -Lucifer had a wife and daughter when he was alive, but he was killed for an investigation he was conducting when his daughter was literally just a baby and he always regretted not being able to be there for her. Charlie fills that void for him, even if he knows the dates don't match up at all and Charlie could really never been his daughter. He was so lucky that Charlie herself carried on with her own daddy issues that makes her suck up all the affection like a sponge, instantly. -Both Alastor and Lucifer also received emails from Velvette offering to be sponsors for her hotel. They never even read it. Alastor has Sir Pentious as an assistant who reads all that crap for him and deleted it instantly because he thought it was a scam (and he was right). -Emily is the demon maid of the hotel and literally the only person who believes in redemption. Nobody has the heart to tell her that it's all bullshit made for profit, not even Vox.

(this AU is available for asks, btw! Maybe I can get inspired to write something else)

[rius-cave]

I'm not sure if I told you this before, but I've got a Hazbin Hotel Swap AU where Adam is the protagonist as a Seraphim and a former exorcist who left Heaven and moved to Hell when he realized how awful the exterminations were 7 years prior to the story. The antagonist isn't Charlie, but instead two of Lucifer's (many) brothers, Azrael, the Angel of Death and leader of the exorcists, and Gabriel, the Angel of Law and Azrael's second-in-command. Like in most Swap AUs, Adam wants to help Sinners redeem themselves in order to get into Heaven through his Hazbin Hotel, since he's trying to fulfill his purpose as the benevolent father of humanity, but he isn't wearing tuxedos; he's still dressed in his canon robe and sports red marks on his cheeks like Lucifer's, since they're a sign of Adam's ascension to a Seraphim angel just like Lucifer.

Lute is Adam's best friend ever since they were exorcists, and thus, she wants to help Adam makes his dreams come true and fulfill his goals.

Alastor the Radio Demon isn't the hotel's benefactor, but instead, it's Vox the Video Demon, who seeks to support the hotel for his own twisted desires, along with getting more publicity for himself and his fellow Vees; "VoxTek, trust us with your salvation!"

The guests and staff will remain the same, though I still have to work out how Vox will act in Alastor's place as the hotel's manager and benefactor.

Oh the fact that Adam WAS an exterminator at some point in this AU, but then changed his ways, is super interesting! I think that's a lot more compelling than just, he's always known it was wrong yada yada. This way, you can actually explore how he changed his mind and why he stopped believing in the exterminations, which is really cool.

But I have to say that the most intriguing part for me is VOX in place of ALASTOR HAHA.

Especially because it sounds like he'd have more or less the same personality, just that he's helping the hotel for his own motives (which is similar to Alastor anyway), that is SUPER fun, having Vox as a reluctant ally is SO COMPELLING. He's also REALLY influential in Hell, and probably would be much more active in trying to make the hotel succeed than Alastor ever was.

[redladydeath]

Your Vox mindbreak au has my mind in a vice grip.

I can’t help but imagine that in the version where Al mind breaks Vox, fucks off for seven years and then drags the poor man to the hotel as soon as he gets back would be uh… uncomfortable for Angel specifically.

Like I imagine, after the initial, happening, The Vees would try to keep Vox’s condition on the “down low” to the best of their abilities and Vox basically disappeared from the public eye but as Val’s “favorite” Angel definitely knows more about Vox and what happened to him than probably anyone outside of the Vees and Alastor.

So, imagine he’s at the hotel, a place that he tenuously considers safe and then fucking Alastor shows up dragging his boss’s brain fucked boyfriend behind him along with a smaller demon who behaves similarly enough that he is connecting those damn dots. And he’s the damn hotel’s benefactor now and lil miss princess of Hell is all googly eyed and oblivious and Angel is terrified of what Alastor will do if he pulls the wool off Charlie’s eyes, not to mention what he’s surely going to have to deal with from Valentino.

OH GOD YES. It'd fuck up his recovery so bad to have to keep a secret like that– although would it even really be a secret at this point when everyone knows except Charlie and Vaggie? I can't even imagine how Val would react to Vox disappearing from Vee Tower (not the most uncommon occurrence given his powers, but still) and then turning up with Alastor of all people in the same place that Angel has "run off" to. Maybe Alastor absorbs Vox's power and adds it to his own or something, because I think he'd need it to keep Val and Velvette from immediately razing the hotel to the ground. Hazbin Hotel except no one's allowed to leave because the second they step outside they risk being killed by two angry overlords. Eventually things get to a point where the Vees are willing to strike a deal just to get Vox back. Charlie BEGS Alastor to just give him up in exchange for Angel's freedom, but Alastor categorically refuses, purely out of his own sense of pride.

[hiemaldesirae]

Arrax here, Vox/Lucifer Bestie AU with a small interruption of Alastor's and Lilith's very awful no good partnership (they hate each other, your honor.)

Alastor clutches his Vox doll close to himself, the scent of his muse wafting up from the beloved doll. "Are you fucking that midget, My Vox?" He snarls, gently petting the dolly's rabbit ears and watching them spark. "Hmm? Has he ensnared you? Taken you from me?"

"If that isn't half as pathetic as I thought it'd be," the Queen of Hell's voice cut in, and Alastor bolts up, eyes wide as he stares at his benefactor. "My Lady," he murmurs

"Save it," Lilith says, a large bottle of apple flavored vodka in her right hand. "It seems we both have a problem. Our beloveds are moving on...and neither of us like that option."

Alastor give a snort: "Well if you hadn't had us disappear for 7 fucking years--"

A deep rumbling growl leaves the Queen's chest, and her demon form flickers in, before she gives a yank on Alastor's soul. "It's not my fault your beloved is a slag who throws himself at anyone with a Mediocrim of power." She hisses, voice cold. "He'd probably have a go at Michael, of all the Angels in Heaven--"

A bellow of rage leaves Alastor and he flings himself at Lilith, managing grab some of her hair before the chain around his neck burns and slams him down. "At least Vox isn't 4 foot nothing, and remembers his daughter's birthday! Velvette has always gotten gifts and trips. Charlotte doesn't even know if Lucifer even remembers her birthdate!"

Lilith gives a gasp, and opens her mouth to reply before closing it. Then she opens it again. Then closes it. "I....I'll have to get back to you on that. I'm sure he remembers it. At least the month....but that's not what I'm here for. Vox has gotten to close to what's mine, and I obviously can kill him--it would make you too useless to Charlie. It would make Lucifer too useless again too, and that's not acceptable either..." *she growled, frowning.* "So I'm giving you a permanent power up--to help you get Vox away from My Luci no strings attached--well except one. You can't kill my husband." *she raised her hand up, a smirk on her face.

Not trusting her, but wanting more power to get his muse back, Alastor grabbed her hand taking the deal.

Lilith's smirk grew: "You kill my husband and I'll kill your Vox," she vowed, sealing the deal, as her power enveloped Alastor sinking into the deer demon, becoming his.

HAHAHA oh my god no this is so good. the idea of lilith and alastor being bitter enemies while their beloveds are besties is sooo fucking funny to me. thank you for this image arrax im grinning wildly

IM GONNA PISS MYFGSELF LAUGHIGNN ALASTORS SPEJAKING TO A DOLL.... dum b FUCK IMGNOAA CRY HAHAGWDH and the fucing vodka too. never let it be said that im disrespecting a woman but. oh mygod shes the original girlfailrue i fucking love her HAGAHWJD

also oh.... more power in return for making sure that luci and vox dont get involved with each other? and als only agreeing to make sure that he'll be powerful enough to force vox to stay with him... plus those final words from lilith... ominous as hell. what the fuck would she count as getting lucifer killed... idk if al wants to know frankly

god this was so good though. absolutely scrumptious meal thank you ive got no notes 10/10

[randomly--accessed--memories]

Now I can’t stop picturing an AU of this AU where it’s Vox who gives Alastor brain damage (Definitely by accident). I feel like Vox would come to really regret his decision.  [Written before I read the post discussing the same topic]

Or maybe it’s not Vox who breaks his brain but his benefactor (Lilith or Roo/Eve). It could be during a hypothetical season 2 where Alastor refuses to betray the hotel crew and as punishment she breaks his brain. For irony’s sake let’s say she broadcasts his screams across all of Hell to hear. 

Maybe she removes his vocal chords to pour salt in the wound. Then you just hear a wet gurgling over the airwaves. Maybe Alastor could use recordings of the other hotel residents and previous radio broadcasts to string together a sentence. 

I can totally see Alastor mistaking Rosie for his mom, isn’t that is just a heartbreaking thought. 

He thinks Husk is just a really big kitty cat and tries to pet him and give him cat treats.

Maybe it takes place in the RAM AU. How ironic, the Overlord who destroyed the minds of others has his broken in turn. 

Mmm, imo Alastor is a slightly less fun character to break than Vox since Vox actually has relationships that he doesn't hold at arms length. Also, Al's kind of hard to get a grasp on character-wise since so much of his personality is a performance. Who is he when all that is stripped away? I don't think we have enough information to know yet. Vox has had significantly less screen time, but we've seen his facade crack quite a bit, so it feels easier to guess what he might have going on underneath the shell. That's just my personal take though.

[purgatorysanctuary]

“Who’s been here to give you hope? Who’s been faithful like the Pope?!”

[eros-agape-art]

I couldn't resist drawing the cursed cat alastor, now with hooves because why not 🤷 Also I genuinely forgot who created the original cursed cat Alastor, but props to you for creating the most absurd and funny trend, it's taking over.

Also he's now canon to my Vox Benefactor AU, BUT JUST THIS HOOVED ONE. I like to think that Alastor created the cursed cat as a gift for Vox before their falling out. However, it was made to only listen to Vox so it went with Vox and not Alastor. Over time it learns to "trust" other people like Charlie and Fat Nuggets and Kiki, Fat Nuggets and Kiki specifically cause like... animal solidarity 🤝

[frilled-cheese-sandwich]

Thinking about @keikakudom's Reset Resort AU...

Whaaaat? Another benefactor Vox AU in this series? omg what a coincidence

Whoo boy, when I say I've been thinking about this AU I've been THINKING about this AU. First of all, every single one of the AU designs is sick, and the character relationships are thought out well and all the art is *fucking phenomenal*, and the oneshot for the AU came out while I was drawing this and it was also super good?? I want to draw scenes from the fic now, too! I think this might be my favorite AU out of the ones I've covered so far I-

Anyway, please go check out the creator!! They've got tons of info on the AU and other Hazbin stuff!

[impale-me-radio-daddy]

Return to Radio Hall

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an alternate universe, once conceptualised, must be in want of a fic. This collaborative event by Bapple's Orchard is brought to you by our collective need to stop @bapple117 from writing a full-length Radiostatic romance novel set in Regency era England*. We've got so many great contributors, with art, short fiction and music, and so if you enjoy this piece I highly encourage you to follow the link to the masterlist for the event below to go see everything that my friends on the server have done.

*They could, and we know they could, and that is why we must stop them.

⚜Summary: Having made his fortune in the New World, Vox Vee returns to visit his former benefactor, Lord Alastor.

⚜Pairings: Vox/Alastor

⚜Content Notes: Unrequited love, Regency era AU, depiction of illness

The weather on the road to Radio Hall was treacherous; great peals of thunder accompanying the rumble of the carriage over the stones on the road as the rain sheeted down.

This ought to have been a triumphant march, the return of a protégé who had proved his mentor wrong, had made his fortune, had won the great game of life. Instead, Vox sat alone in his carriage as it ascended the hill towards the estate, the rain on the windows providing little distraction from the matters that troubled him.

Valentino would have said something to calm his nerves, something witty that made him scoff, if he had been there, but his lover had declined to accompany him across the Atlantic.

“Maybe for a season in Vienna or Paris, amorcito.” Valentino had sucked his pipe, eyes glinting red. “But not for this. You want to go visit your fusty old lord-of-the-manor, you can go by yourself.”

Of course, Valentino was more than capable of entertaining himself while Vox was gone, but Vox couldn’t say the same for himself. He’d spent the voyage over staring at the far horizon, for all the world like the protagonist of some interminably long work of literary fiction fixing his sights on some lofty goal, but all it had achieved was to make Vox wet and cold.

It had been seven years. Seven years since their catastrophic falling out. Lord Alastor had been his closest friend, his confidant and supporter, all of that blown away in an instant.

You will never be my equal.

That was the last thing Alastor had snarled to him, rage seeping from behind the man’s beautiful smile, and the thing that had kept Vox afloat all these years was the urge to make that statement a lie. To meet Lord Alastor again, perhaps invited to a soirée by a mutual acquaintance, to catch his eye across the room and to smile at Alastor as Alastor smiled at the world; with perfect, assured confidence. To say, without speaking, I’m not merely your pet commoner, your charitable project. To smile, with only teeth- I belong here now.

And he had done it. He had made his fortune, not in a way that Alastor would have approved of, but a fortune nonetheless. He had friends, and lovers, and power, and a life that any man alive would have been envious of. He’d been so close, so damn close to swanning his way back across the Atlantic with a retinue in tow, to being invited to all the balls of the season, a hot commodity simply by virtue of his status as a wealthy and unmarried man. But none of that mattered now.

Vox watched the rainwater slide over the window of the carriage, making his view a grim, grey blur. Alastor always had to do things on his own terms. Alastor had to have known that he was planning his grand return; a house in Kensington and a thumb on the nose to everything Alastor had said about him. Vox would have flaunted it. Alastor would have hated it.

That was when the news had come, from one of Vox’s cousins, still living near Radio Hall.

That Lord Alastor was sick.

That he might not last the month.

And of course Vox had thrown all his neatly laid plans aside and booked passage at once, on a ship that he didn’t even own. The whole way there he had prayed that he wouldn’t be too late, that Alastor wouldn’t have the final word in their argument. What was the point of years of striving, if he didn’t get to be right? If, in the end, he still had to come crawling back to Radio Hall?

The carriage crunched to a halt outside the main doors, a pair of footmen hurrying out to greet him with umbrellas. Vox shielded his face with one hand, peering up the front facade of Radio Hall, and smiling as he caught sight of the light from the window in the west tower. Alastor’s bedroom. He wasn’t too late, after all.

Escorted inside, he brushed off the entreaties of the attendants that he get settled in his rooms and change his clothes, making a bee-line to Alastor’s valet, Mr Husk. “I want to see him.”

Mr Husk looked him up and down, as insolent as ever. “Didn’t expect you to show your face,” he said, tone amused. “Thought you of all people would be glad to see him in the ground.”

“Then you are fucking mistaken,” said Vox, a crack in his voice. Alastor had been his greatest friend, his confidant, had been so important to him. Was so important, still. “Show me to his rooms.”

The ascent to Alastor’s tower was a familiar one, but Vox found himself viewing the passage with fresh eyes after so long away. The heirlooms and paintings that lined the walls seemed faded, the space itself more confined and dark after years in spacious white-painted apartments. Even the carpets were more ragged and less luxurious than Vox remembered them. Had it all fallen into ruin in his absence, he wondered, or had it always been like this, faded and rotten, with Vox too blinded by Alastor’s charm to see it for what it was?

He’d been in Alastor’s rooms countless times; late nights drinking in his little study and putting the world to rights, or playing cards with other friends before the fireplace. He had been young then, and naive, excited to have such an invite to the man’s inner sanctum. When Alastor had started to speak of the occult, in abstract, hypothetical terms at first, swirling the last of the whiskey in his glass, Vox had listened, rapt.

And when it came down to the less theoretical matters, more practical matters, Vox had listened and learned, a willing apprentice.

They’d traveled Europe together, scouring the collections of rare book dealers and antiquarians, a month here, a month there, and those not in their intimate circle had assumed him to be Alastor’s lover. Those close enough to see clearly knew the truth, however; that Lord Alastor’s obsessions lay too bloody and too deep to be sated by a simple man like Vox, or by any man for that matter.

It was on these trips that he’d laid the foundations for his trading company, connections with Alastor’s friends and with people who wished to curry Lord Alastor’s favor. He’d met people for whom a thousand pounds was a trifling amount and borrowed seed money from them, all from under Alastor’s watchful shadow.

He’d seen more in their friendship than friendship, or perhaps he had hallucinated it, just as he had imagined the painting in the halls to be grand and glorious, their frames golden rather than peeling gilt.

Now, the place smelled like a sickbed; like blood and feculence and rot.

“Mr Vee to see you, sir,” said Mr Husk, his tone bored.

Alastor’s voice was silvery as ever. “Let him in.”

Alastor’s bedroom was no different to the version in Vox’s mind, each ornament and piece of furniture committed to memory. The four-poster bed with the Radio family crest carved into the headboard; a stag recumbent on a field of thorns. The stuffed crocodile that Alastor kept in the corner. The fireplace, a brass basket of firewood before it.

Alastor smiled at him, face gaunt and tired. He sat up in bed, robe loose around his shoulders, blanket at his waist, a stack of pillows behind him.

Vox froze in the doorway, caught between the boy he had been and a hundred versions of the man he hoped he would have become by now. He had envisioned this moment so many times, but somehow never like this. Never with Alastor bedridden and sick, collarbones prominent at the neckline of his robe. The Alastor in Vox’s mind had been an invincible thing, dressed in red and laughing as he danced across a ballroom.

“Hello, Voxxy.” Alastor lowered his eyelids, his lank hair falling half over his face, his teeth glinting in the firelight. “How was the new world? Was it as glamorous and glittering as you had hoped? Did you have a nice vacation?”

Vox swallowed, heart in his throat. How dare he? How dare he sit there and pretend like the last seven years hadn’t even happened? As if Vox had just this moment walked from the room and returned, his absence as notable as the space between breaths.

“Alastor.” Vox forced himself to take a step forward, into the light of his former mentor’s fireplace. “I, uh-”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you come to grieve at my bedside?” Alastor tilted his head, the sly, teasing smile on his gaunt face instantly familiar. “Since you came such a long way, I suppose I could lay down and be quiet for a little. Though I’d prefer if you didn’t paw at my bedclothes, they’re enough of a mess already.”

“Alastor!” Vox choked.

“And your heart is worn on your sleeve, as ever,” said Alastor, a roll of his eyes as Vox stepped closer. “I thought I told you to guard your feelings better.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything that you told me to.”

“Yes. Yes, I suppose it has.” Alastor sighed. “Why did you come here?”

For one brief instant, Vox was the stag faced down by the hounds, frozen in place before he could flee into the night. The wind howled outside, rain dashing against Alastor’s window.

You will never be my equal.

Those were the words that had echoed in his ears all these years. Those words that he desperately wanted to be a lie, those words that he had fought to disprove. Every brick of the empire that he had built, every late night and every bloody victory had been in their service, and somehow it hadn’t been enough. He wasn’t Alastor’s equal. He was rich, but still of common birth. He was a competent magician, but he lacked Alastor’s natural talent. Faced with tragedy, all he had was rage and bluster while Alastor would keep smiling even on his own deathbed. Vox stood at the foot of Alastor’s bed, looking down at the man he had called friend, unable to say because I belong here.

“I heard you were dying,” said Vox.

“I’m afraid that’s true.” Alastor gave a gay little laugh, and narrowed his eyes when Vox winced. “Don’t look so shocked. A lifetime of good food and bad magic is bound to catch up with one eventually.”

“Can I help?” Vox asked, his heart once more on his sleeve.

“Well, that’s an ambiguous offer if ever I heard one,” said Alastor, his tone playful.

“You know what I meant,” growled Vox.

“And more’s the shame,” said Alastor. “I thought perhaps you’d want the final say on things. I know I would, in your shoes.” He was talking circles around Vox, the same way he always had.

“We’re not the same,” said Vox. A peace offering. I will never be your equal. “If I can help you-” If I can save you, he left unspoken.

Alastor gave him a long look, his smile tight lipped, then patted the bedspread beside him. “Sit,” he said, and Vox did.

This close to Alastor, the smell of death was stronger; a smell like a carcass left in the sun, and even in the light from the fireplace, Vox could see the strained lines around his smile.

“There’s no loophole to this one, old pal,” said Alastor. “Believe me, I’ve checked. Damn thing’s eating me from the inside.”

“There must be a way-” Vox protested, but Alastor interrupted him.

“Do you plan to spend my last days down in my library, as I wither up here? Or would you rather spend them here with me?” Alastor wrinkled his nose. “Well?”

“Alastor,” breathed Vox, staring.

How many years had he spent as a young man, waiting for something like this from Alastor? Theirs had simply been a friendship; a precious friendship, and Vox had been a fool to want more than that. But he had dreamed. Of being someone that Alastor might want to spend the rest of his life with. However long that would be now. A few days, or weeks, or more, perhaps.

With the utmost care, he reached out to his old friend, his mentor, the man who had taken him in, the man he had raced hare-brained across the Atlantic to return to, and took him into his arms, embracing him.

“You are a sentimental fool,” said Alastor, quietly, but he did not pull away. His thin body relaxed against Vox’s, his face against Vox’s shoulder, and he gave a single, shuddering breath.

You belong here.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

I love seeing au hazbin hotel different overlord being benefactor but what if those overlord helping charlie in order to get lucifer and lilith good grace. Rosie alastor husk vox are 4 overlord who is benefactor of the happy hotel they surely do not believe it could work but to their suprise sir pentious manage to enter redemption

Yep.